A little help keeps labs

摘要

Three national honey bee labs have gone from slash burns in the federal spending plan to restored and "protected' budget items in the past six months, due mainly to a grassroots campaign, research progress and a little congressional help. The research units are operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and were part of a 15 million dollar base fund reduction for Agricultural Research Services (ARS). In February of this year, President George W. Bush called for the closure of three of the fourUSDA honey bee labs, including the sites in Baton Rouge, LA, Beltsville, MD, and Tucson, AZ - which would have left the Weslaco, TX, site as the last lab standing. The administration said it was an effort to cut spending and streamline bee research, based on the findings of a task force established by the most recent Farm Bill committee. For nearly five months, the three units operated under the assumption that the doors were closing effective Oct. I - internationally recognized research was scheduled to be disbanded, some existing positions and funding were being transported to Texas and the facilities themselves were facing final curtain calls.